All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

Buff history buffs.

The Case

I have to think that being the person in charge of putting together the
History Channel DVD release calendar has to be a pretty sweet gig. All you have
to do is take a gander at the Hollywood release schedule, pinpoint some macho
action movie that has a loose tie to real history and hit the History vault!

So here we are just in time for 300: Rise of an Empire and History
has sent out a collection of all things Greek! Three discs, six specials:

Each special clocks in at about 45 minutes and offers a mixture of various
Greek engagements. With 300: Rise of an Empire set to drop, it's all
Greek all the time and though some material is overlapping here (Marathon and
Thermopylae in particular get two specials each) there's enough of a
difference—at the very least in quality of execution. Case in point: those
"Decisive Battles" specials are memorable because of the sweet
proto-CGI used to dramatize the epic battles. We're talking N64 levels of
awfulness here, with blocky polygon soldiers moving in perfect unison taking on
assorted gobs of jaggies. The unfortunate side effect: the horrible visual
effects distract from the legit knowledge being dropped.

Subsequent specials are more recent and their effects are noticeably
improved, in fact assuming much of the look and style of the original 300; better CGI, slow-motion and blood
splatter effects everywhere.

If the subject matter grabs you then go for it. There's dated technology
here, but it's pretty hilarious and the info is top-shelf. Grab some popcorn and
your favorite Hoplites and indulge.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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Did we give Last Stand of the 300 and other famous Greek battles a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.